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Home My WebLink AboutThe Huron Expositor, 1997-05-14, Page 241144911E NUMMI fzPusrTOR, May tit, UM Parallels of past & present at Blyth Festival 8Y 1DAVIUBCA1'T Expositor Editor Flow did a city -girl end up starring in a play about farm life and tum arutwd a country theatre that was losing money? "1 stopped in July 1972 in Seaforth with my father: 1 was on my way to tied a fawn near Clinton, which I'd never been to, on the 13th or 14th hie," said Janet Amos. Blyth Festival's artistic director. She spoke to senior card players about Blyth Festival's past and present seasons at Seaforth Legion Branch 156 recently. Back 25 years ago, the stopped here in town on her way to meet with actors and a director from Theatre Passe Muraille for what would eventually become The Farm Show. Amos. burn in Toronto, wanted to act in the early 1970s but was having trouble finding work. "1 almost decided not • to. 1 was fed up. But then Paul Thompson. the director. asked me to come up (to Clinton) fur six weeks. The old farm house the actors stayed in had no run- ning water and a tire had to be put around the fridge to hold the door shut. "We had a two -burner stove. Either the oven or one burner would work. When my dad dropped me off he said 'don't be afraid to call and we'll conic and get you.' " It was an interesting sum- mer. said Blyth's current artistic director. We inter- viewed people. worked on farms." The actors quickly realized how busy farm life was. Characters in the. show were based on real people in the area. Janet played Jean Lobb. now deceased. who was the aunt of her husband. actor Ted Johns. who was born in Seaforth. Amos didn't think too much would become of the play which was performed in a barn. But it went on to be done in Toronto. England. Saskatchewan. Vancouver and other locations. When The Farrar Show finished its premiere in Clinton. the cast "was off and on the road for live years.- A TV show and movie was made of the play.. 0 was 25 years ago this summer that The /arm Show was first staged. •"My son Chris will be 27 in two weeks." He was two -years - Janet Amos speaks to seniors at Seatorth Legion. old when he lived with his mother. the actor, in an old farm house • with a bunch of other actors that summer in '72. The Farm Show was also performed at Stratford's Festival Theatre. "11 was the first time a Canadian play was performed on the Stratford stage." Festival Bellies in 1975 • Two summers later a group of citizens in Blyth wanttad to start a theatre. James Roy of Clinton. now an executive producer for CBC radio drama. started the Blyth Festival the next summer in 1975. Only two shows were performed that first summer, one was a play by Harry Boyle. about farm life. called Mosth in Clover. Kos want- ed to do plays of local inter- est -Canadian plays - since there was already Grand Bend and Stratford which did bit; shows and Shakespeare. Blyth tickets sold fur $2.50 in 1975 and 3,000 people came to the theatre that first summer. Annual atten.dancc is about 10 times that now. Janet -Amos directed the Blyth Memorial History Show in 1977. Her second son was born the day after the play opened. "Ted was here in Seaforth rehearsing Shakespeare for Fun and • Profit at Cardno's Hall." The first stint for Amos as Artistic Director was from 1980-84. The year before she took over. attendance was up to 13,000. Under her direc- tion in 1980. numbers shot up . to 20,0(X) and by the time she left in 1984. 30,000 people a summer were attending. Those numbers did peak at 40,000 a few years later but then plunged down to 20,00( to the years following. She returned as Artistic Director (A.D.) in 1994 and took the Blyth Festival from the red to the black in one season by running a good CHRISTMAS CRAFTS & COLLECTABLES 329 Durham Market Sq. Kincardine, ON Across from Victoria Park (519) 396.2656 �l> I.ti.n rl ( 1 KAI)I 11r vv., (.1115 r(,K .V.1 (1((.\till •Angels •Mohair Throws Candles •Gourmet Treats •Gollectables •Pottery •Hand Blown & Painted Tree Ornaments ...aud much much more! GIFT CERTIFICATES AVAILABLE .10, I,.," ., h .,1 \K I (,.\l I.Iit' 1 1,N IA I ' :1alums' 10 ajar. 4:80 AVMS11 ' `€*»con - 5;00 p.m. Allay 4% -Ballots ,10.440. • mixture of plays that drew the audience back to Blyth. Numbers are now up to the range again. 30.000 1997 Blyth Semen She introduced the 1997 season by talking about play- wright Anne Chislett, the oew A.D. for 1998, who was the Festival's fmt administra- tor in 1975. In Janet's second year as A.D. in 1981, Quiet in the Land. written by Chislett, opened the season. History is repeating itself as this stirring drama. about an Amish family during World War 1 opens the '97 season. The play won the Chalmers Award in 1982 and the Governor General's Award in 1983. "In 1920, the Blyth Hall was built as a memorial to World War 1 veterans." said Amos. There are memorial plaques on the walls by the front: of the stage honouring the local veterans who were killed in the First World War and those who served in World War 11. Normally, they are taken down during the theatre season so they're not damaged but during the per- formances of Quiet in the Land, they remain up as a reminder of the history and heritage of the hall. Director Paul Thompson will be presenting another collective. like last year's Barndunce Live! This sum- mer's production by Thompson is called Booze' Days in a Drs County. "When the guys got back from the war. .a lot of places .had prohibition in effect. It created a lot of underground alcohol sales. In Blyth there were five different places to buy booze," said Amos. The third show of the sea son is There's Nothing in the Paper by David Scott of Seaforth. "It's a'story about the frustrations of running a small town newspaper - the Shadowville Examiner. There's two old guys, Sam and Hank, who point out mis- takes in the paper every week. A new paper conies to town and starts printing rumours and gets everybody stirred up. George, the editor, has to decide if he's going to give up or fight." The fourth show of the aca- son is the comedy Melville Boys. "It's a lot of fun. Two brothers go away to their family cottage for a quiet weekend. The younger broth- er invites two girls in From the lake." This play has special mean- ing for Amos because it pre- miered at her very first sea- son at Theatre New Brunswick in 1984. There will actually be a fifth show un the main stage at Blyth this summer - a revival of Barndance Live.' from last season which cele- brates the old CKNX travel- ling country and western music show in southwestern 'Ontario. A sixth play. a one-person show by Deborah Kimmett called Overboard!, tells the story of a young woman who does too much. has two chil- dren and goes on a cruise. Kimmett 'appeared in Garrison's Garage in 1984 and is a director with the Second --City comedy troupe. Overboard is being staged at The Garage theatre on Dinsley St. in Blyth. AKEY BROS. PAINTING is DRYWALL McLaughlin Choy -Olds Ltd. 13 main St. Susterth. 527-1140 'Service *Selection *Savings •Satistactwn 'Leasing 'Complete BODY SHOP Service • Tan TUTUM Y... to replace Canadnls amsuafist avpatiai sanith a genuine "Pro -Canada" opposition that ie assay to pat atiseijsn Canadians give Reformer the mandate. 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The Huron Expositor will be closed MONDAY MAY 1 qt" ALL DEADLINES EDITORIAL & ADVERTISING — 1:00 deadline CLASSIFIED WORD ADS — 1:00 deadline WILL ADVANCE TO FRIDAY, MAY 16' 1:00 P.M. The staff at the Huron Expositor wish you a est„ • ! . • • • ' ration. ogiriore STA P CHOICE